First Run
by Eillipses
Summary: Because there's a first time for everything, and your family is always there to help you through it. A story told entirely of firsts - the many family moments that could've been. AU - alive!Kushina and alive!Minato. Long hiatus.
1. First Girl

I honestly don't know where this came from. I was digging though some old files, and there it was. I like the original idea - but I hated my execution. It's not very well done, I'll be the first to say, but then again, none of my work is.

_Title_ - First Run  
Word Count (No Notes) - 1,222  
Word Count (Notes) - 1523  
Summary_ - _Naruto has a problem, and he goes to his mother for help.

* * *

  
"Mommy?"

Uzumaki Kushina looked up from her book to glance at her son at the doorway and smiled softly to herself. Her Naruto could be so cute sometimes. He was nervous, she could tell, from the way he addressed her and how he was biting his right thumb anxiously.

She set down her book and gave him her full attention.

"Yes, Naruto?"

He took a few steps hesitantly towards her before stopping. The blonde suddenly looked like he was starting to regret coming to her. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he appeared to think.

Kushina squealed to herself silently in a completely un-Kushina way. She was one of the largest tomboys and squealing was much too 'girly' for her in usual circumstances. But sometimes she just couldn't help but marvel at how adorable Naruto could be.

She opened her arms and gestured for him to come. It only took a moment longer before he scurried to her side. She put her arm around him in a motherly way as he sighed.

"So, what's up, squirt?"

Naruto scowled at the shot towards his height. It wasn't his fault he was short! He crossed his arms and huffed. He'd grow up to be big and strong just like his dad, he was sure of it! He was going to become _Hokage_!

His mother's giggles broke him out of his mental rant.

"Sorry, Naruto, but your expression was just too funny!"

Naruto let out a "hmph!" before he abruptly remembered the reason he had gone to his mom in the first place. Kushina could practically see the lightbulb turn on above his head as his mouth went round and a slight 'oh' escaped his lips.

"I saw a girl today!" he exclaimed, his face flashing through several emotions – embarrassment, happiness, surprise – before finally settling on cutely confused.

Kushina blinked. Twice.

"You see girls every day, Naruto," she explained. Of course, she knew exactly what he meant, but she wanted to hear him say it and see how he worded it. If he was anything like his father when it came to the opposite sex…

"_No_, Mom, it's different! Not like you or Shizune-nee! She was like…a _girl_!" he said

She cocked up an eyebrow. "Oh? So I don't count as a girl anymore?"

It just struck Naruto that he had said something wrong. He recognized that look. That was the look that told him he was going to wash dishes for a week. That was the look that told him he'd have to read through his dad's D-rank mission reports. That was the look of _evil_.

He gulped and held his hands in front of him for protection.

"N-no, Mom, what I meant is…uh, I meant, erm…"

"Naruto…! You…!"

He screwed his eyes shut and waited for his punishment.

"…should tell me about this girl."

"H-huh?"

He opened his eyes to see his mother sitting down and smiling pleasantly at him. He shook his head and sighed again. She could be so weird sometimes. He briefly wondered if it was that 'time of the month' he sometimes heard his dad talking about with his friends – not that he really understood what it meant.

Kushina chuckled quietly at her son. He was just so endearingly cute when he was scared. But even as fun as it was to mess with the kid, this topic was of even more interest to her.

"Go on, tell me what happened," she encouraged, grinning at him.

"Oh, well, I was at Training Field Six, working on that water-walking exercise Dad showed me. It's so cool! I can stand for ten seconds now! Soon I'll be able to walk, no question!" he rambled, going off topic.

He was so talkative when he was nervous. Taking a deep breath, she interrupted him.

"And then I'll be able to run and fight and do jutsus on water and I'll be so kickass and-"

"Naruto-"

"- then Dad'll promote me to super-extra-special-secret-jounin-ANBU captain - "

"Naruto-"

"- and then everyone will have to acknowledge me –"

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

"- then I'll show them! …huh? Did you say something, Mom?"

Kushina buried her head in her hands. "Get on with the story, please…"

Naruto chuckled nervously. "Heh, right."

--

A loud splash echoed through the air, followed immediately by a garbled voice and irritated scream.

"Why can't I get it?! Argh, Dad made it look so easy!"

Naruto kicked the water in frustration. Another splash, and the sky was covered in water droplets.

"Eek!"

"Huh?"

Naruto turned around and was met was quite possibly the creepiest eyes he'd ever seen. Pale, colourless, and without pupils, they were certainly unique.

Almost immediately after, his attention was diverted to the _owner_ of said eyes. With touching index fingers, short lavender hair, and a light blush cutely adorning her face, she was one of the prettiest girls Naruto had ever seen.

"Sorry 'bout that! Hope I didn't get you too wet," said Naruto, somewhat awkwardly.

The girl's blush intensified at his voice and her fingers began to twitch more. She looked down, and didn't speak.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She sprinted off into the distance.

--

_Must not laugh. Must not laugh._

A mantra ran its way through Kushina's head as she took a second to calm down. Was Naruto always this amusing? Most likely that was Hyuuga Hinata. Out of all people...life with Naruto would never be boring. Especially if this actually went somewhere. Taking one final deep breath, she looked down to her indignant son.

"It's not funny!" he pouted.

"No, it isn't. Do you know who that was, Naruto?" asked Kushina.

"Not yet, but I will!" he declared, determined.

Kushina raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? How exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"I'll find out at school tomorrow, duh!" Naruto gave her a glance, as if there was something wrong with her for not coming to that conclusion automatically.

"How do you even know she'll be there, if you've never seen her before?" she asked reasonably.

He paused. "She'll be there, I'm sure of it!"

The other eyebrow went up. "So, what are you going to do after you're done stalking her?"

He scowled again. "It's not _stalking_! I just want to get to know her!"

"And then?"

"Then we're gonna get married!" he beamed.

His mother stared at him. "It doesn't quite work that way, son…"

"I don't care! I won't go back on my words, 'cause that's my nindo!"

It was just now that Kushina noticed how much conviction her son spoke with. A gentle smile made its way onto her face as she absent-mindedly ruffled Naruto's blonde hair. It was so like his father's – _he_ was so like his father.

A yawn broke though her musings.

"Maybe, but right now, let's get you to bed. It's bedtime."

She stood up and picked him up, despite a weak and sleepy protest.

"After all, you wouldn't want to be late for your first day at the Academy, would you?"

* * *

If it seems rushed, that's because it probably was. This is really all over the place. Actually, I really like this kind of family thing, though. I might continue it some time down the line, so keep a lookout for that? The 'completed' status may be dropped yet.

Drop a review in, 'kay? Thanks a bunch!


	2. First Class

Well, what do you know? The response was generally favourable, and I actually really like this. I'm not sure how far I can take this - my track record with multi-chapter stories is ridiculously poor, but I'll try hard. If anything, this could may as well end up as a collection of one-shots that could end at any time, though I'm kind of toying with the idea of a full-scale story of firsts. More details at the end, and if you have any questions, review! Just some warning. Hope you enjoy it, at any rate, and that it doesn't let you down.

_Title_ - First Class  
Word Count (No Notes) - 2,839  
Word Count (Notes) - 3,480  
Summary_ - _Ah, the first day at the Ninja Academy. Kids, Iruka, and lunch!

* * *

"Hey, Mom! Mom Mom Mom! Over here!"

An excited Naruto bounded through the crowd with a bunch of quick 'excuse me!''s and "comin' through!''s. An amused looking Kushina was his destination.

She tried not to chuckle at the various looks the other kids were giving him as he systematically ran the, over, but couldn't contain her laugh as he managed to actually trip over someone, sending two boys tumbling to the ground.

Naruto and a dark-haired boy sat up, each nursing their own injuries. Rubbing his head, her son scowled at his classmate.

"Oww! Tripping me when I wasn't looking? That's low, Sasuke-teme, even for you!"

Uchiha Sasuke glared just as hard back.

"Shut up, dobe! You're the one who tripped over _me_!"

The redhead could practically see the sparks fly between the two, and decided to intervene before it could escalate. They might actually end up hurting each other – she knew for sure Naruto could do some damage, and there was no way the second scion of the Uchiha clan had no extra training.

Unfortunately, the crowd was quite difficult to navigate, and if she tried jumping, she'd probably land on some unlucky sap. Fortunately, her fears were unfounded.

"Duck-butt head!"

"Shorty!"

"Show-off!"

"Idiot!"

Kushina stared momentarily, slightly dumbfounded, before she hurried over. She was slowed down by the bouts of laughter that threatened to overtake her, as the insults became more and more juvenile.

"Poo-head!"

"Dummy!"

Finally, she reached the two bickering children. Good thing, too, since they were gradually growing louder. She winced slightly and wondered if she was ever this loud when she was young. The conclusion she came to was '…_yeah, I probably was_' as she felt a pang of sympathy for Minato.

Kushina held out her hands in a diplomatic gesture. "Now, now, kids. Let's not be calling each other names here."

"Stupid!"

"Loser!"

'What _is it with kids ignoring me?_' she pondered to herself. She sucked in a large breath.

"_Shut the hell up!_"

On the positive note, both of the children stopped and stared at her. On the other hand, so did everyone else. She could practically _feel_ the disapproving stares of the other parents. '_Well, screw 'em_,' she thought.

"Okay, are we ready to place nice now?" asked Kushina sweetly.

Her response was a low rumbling sound that she took as consent.

"Now, Sasuke-kun, is it?"

The Uchiha nodded sullenly, put off at being yelled at by _Naruto_'s mom, of all people.

"Let's go find your mother, shall we?"

Before he could reply, he found his arm in her vice grip and being half dragged. Glancing to his left, he found his pint-sized rival in a similar situation. He sighed and gave in to the scary lady.

If getting through the crowd was difficult, finding someone in that crowd would be borderline impossible. Kushina guessed about half of them would give up before their first genin test. Good thing, too – being a ninja was not for the weak-hearted.

Luckily for Kushina, Mikoto also happened to be a kunoichi. Locating her would be relatively simple – just look for the chakra. Sensing chakra under normal circumstances would be immensely difficult, but even a chuunin could pick one ninja apart from a throng of civilians.

'_And…there!_'

Steering the two kids, she abruptly changed direction, nearly throwing the two kids to the ground. '_Aw well, they're going to be ninja. They can deal._'

As they neared, the Uchiha matriarch noticed them. "Sasuke!"

Kushina grinned as she pulled the black-haired boy forward. "I believe this belongs to you, Mikoto?"

She let go of his hand and he was instantly by his mother's side. Mikoto ruffled Sasuke's hair fondly and smiled.

"Yes, thank you very much for taking care of him, Kushina-san. I hope he wasn't too much trouble," said Mikoto.

"Nah, it's no problem. And I told you to drop the honorific, it makes me sound old! Just 'Kushina' is fine!" she insisted.

Mikoto raised an eyebrow. "Well, you are Hokage-sama's wife."

"Pfft. Minato cares even less about that respect crap than I do."

"Even so. We should be going now. It was nice talking to you, Kushina-san," she waved, as she led Sasuke away.

'_At least she isn't calling me Kushina-'sama' any more_.'

Kushina looked down at Naruto. "Let's go home, yeah?"

He nodded fervently.

As they walked, Kushina could tell he was just bursting to talk about his day, but restraining himself. He wanted her to ask. She indulged him.

"So, how was your first day at the Academy?"

Naruto actually jumped. "It was awesome!"

--

_Ding-dong!_

Everyone scrambled to their seats as a man walked in. With brown hair tied up in a ponytail and a chuunin flak vest proudly worn, he introduced himself.

"Good morning to you all. My name is Umino Iruka, and for the next few years, I will be your teacher in the ninja arts."

The teacher scanned the class before starting roll call. It seemed as though his class had some great potential. He noted all the usual ninja families, and there were a good number of them – Akimichi, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Nara, Uchiha – and paused near the bottom of the list.

_Uzumaki Naruto_.

Iruka narrowed his eyes by only a fraction. He wasn't quite sure how he should feel. Conflicted as he was, he decided to just pretend the Kyuubi kid wasn't there, that it was just another normal class with normal students.

He'd shamefully admit later that he had hoped the Naruto would be a failure, a slacker, a useless loser – all so he could have a reason to hate him. Ironically, it was his slacker carefree attitude that would also end up endearing him to his teacher.

As Iruka-sensei, as he called himself, droned on, Naruto found himself drifting. He found it so boring. His mom and dad had already drilled this crap into his brain, after all. Bored, he took a look around the room. So these were his classmates, eh?

Immediately he sought out the girl he had seen yesterday. Hyuuga Hinata was the name she responded to for attendance. '_Hinata-chan, huh? Cute name,_' he smiled to himself. A note was made and filed in his mind to get to know her later on.

He shifted back to his original position for a second before he felt someone else's gaze. Turning his head, he entered a silent staring contest with a black-haired boy to his left. Uchiha Sasuke, or something like that.

He was glaring at Naruto, as if to say, "How _dare_ you not pay attention?"

Naruto defiantly returned the glare, mentally conveying a retort. "Yeah well, you're not paying attention either. What, never seen a handsome man before?"

Of course, the blonde doubted Sasuke could hear his thoughts. At least, he hoped he couldn't, because that would be _creepy_. At any rate, he probably couldn't, seeing as he redirected his attention at Iruka-sensei.

Moving on, Naruto spotted all sorts in his classroom. Everyone was different. He saw a lazy kid sleeping, some guy with a dog, a girl with ridiculously pink hair, a chubby kid munching on chips, and that was just with a cursory glance.

Well, at least it looked as if class wouldn't be too boring.

It was then he noticed that Iruka had finally stopped lecturing.

"Well, let's see what you already know! Who here already knows some kind of ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu?" he asked.

A majority of hands went up. Iruka smiled.

It looked as if this class wouldn't be boring.

--

"Let me get this straight – instead of listening to the teacher, you were drooling over Hinata-chan?"

Naruto crossed his arms and hmph'd. "I wasn't _drooling_! Weren't you even listening? I was checkin' out my competition!"

"Oh, my bad. So you were stalking some other kids too."

He scowled. "Moooom, how many times have I told you? It's not _stalking_, it's _scouting_! You and dad are always telling me how a ninja needs to be good at rec – rec…"

Kushina smirked. "Yes?"

"…info-gathering!"

"Sure, Naruto, sure."

She fumbled to find her keys as they reached their house. It wasn't overly large – just a moderate sized, humble and cozy little home. Kushina never liked flashy. It was too girly for her tastes.

"Hey, I'm not done yet!" complained her son.

"Don't you want some food first?" asked his mother.

Story all but forgotten, he began chanting "Ramen! Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!"

"It's not the healthiest of foods – "

" – ramen! – "

" – it'll stunt your growth – "

" – ramen! – "

" – I don't really see why you and your father like it so mu – "

" – ramen! – "

"Okay, fine!"

"Yay!"

Six bowls of noodles later found the mother-son duo laying peacefully on a couch, Kushina absentmindedly playing with Naruto's hair as he rested beside her, sighing contently.

This was why Kushina opted for a small house instead of a huge mansion. Something bigger would lack that feeling of comfort, of family. It would be full of empty space and maids and butlers and elegant furniture no one ever used. It wouldn't be _home_.

She felt a poke at her side.

"Mom, I didn't finish telling you about school!"

Kushina laughed and urged him on.

"So, we all went outside…"

--

"Alright, so you'll all get to show me one technique, be it taijutsu, genjutsu, or ninjutsu. Don't worry if you don't know any – that's what you're here for. Just say 'pass', okay?"

Iruka smiled kindly as he observed the various reactions. Most were nervous, some were confident, some were cocky, indifferent.

As he expected, many of the students from established clans showed off various clan jutsus, and many from civilian backgrounds usually passed.

Nara Shikamaru displayed his family's trademark Kagemane no Jutsu, Hyuuga Hinata demonstrated her clan's Jyuuken, and it continued on as Uchiha Sasuke wowed the class with a large Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto stepped up and made his way to the front. As Sasuke passed him, a competitive smirk graced his face, challenging him. '_Beat that,'_ he was saying. Naruto grinned as an answer.

He decided not to be too flashy, though. Placing his hands in a familiar cross-shaped handseal, he shouted, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

He didn't have to, of course. The seal, smoke, and 'poof' were just for show. But he agreed with his parents that he wouldn't show off. He didn't even have to attend the Academy, but he wanted to meet people his own age.

Six clones appeared and began sparring. Naruto himself, the original, yawned and propped down on the ground. Stretching, he sat back and watched as his clones launched into an advanced taijutsu battle. They were all careful not to land a serious blow, lest they destroy each other.

After he felt his fellow students were suitably amazed, he snapped his fingers and they finally began to knock each other out of existence, until only one remained. He smirked lazily and cheekily bowed to the class before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

--

"So much for not showing off."

"Stop interrupting! And I wasn't!"

--

Ah, lunch. Naruto had a feeling that this was going to be his favourite part of the day for the next few years.

He peeked into his bento, and promptly made a face. Some rice, some fish, a few – ugh! – vegetables. His mom could be so cruel. Sighing, he looked up from his pathetically healthy lunch. Quickly, he scanned the room. Getting up, he made his way across the room.

"Hi! You're Hyuuga Hinata, right?"

"Ah! Uh, yes…"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Nice to meet you!" he said as he held out his hand.

Hinata just stared at it for a couple seconds before gently shaking it. Naruto didn't notice, but her face had gone a shade redder.

"N-nice to meet you too," she returned.

The room had begun to empty. It was a nice day – a dwindling kind of day, as autumn was nearly upon them. Joining the crowd, he gestured for her to follow and they made their way outside.

"D'you want to go get something to eat, Hinata-chan?" he asked her.

"Erm…I brought a lunch today…" she quietly mumbled, though Naruto picked it up. He always had a better sense of hearing and smell than most. What he didn't pick up was her embarrassed reaction to the suffix he added to her name.

"Oh, that's okay. I have one too, but it's yucky and _healthy_," he confided, whispering the last word, as if his mother would pop out of a bush and make him eat it.

The Hyuuga looked into her bag. "U-um, would you like to trade, Naruto…-kun?" offered Hinata. Mentally, she congratulated herself on being able to address him in such a way without stumbling or fainting.

The blonde boy thought. "What do you have?"

"I-it's just some instant ramen…" answered Hinata.

"Really? Let's trade, please please please?" begged Naruto.

"O-okay…"

Christmas had come early!

--

"Wait, you had Hinata-chan's ramen for lunch and you _still_ wanted some after school?"

"Uh…heh heh…"

"Oh? Who's Hinata-chan?"

Naruto jumped up from the couch. "Daddy!" he cried, as he tackled the man.

Chuckling, Namikaze Minato made his way over to his wife with a curious look on his face.

"Naruto's just been telling me about his first day at school," she explained.

"Did you mean _Hyuuga_ Hinata, by any chance?" asked the Yondaime.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. Minato place his head in one of his hands, exasperatedly, but he was smiling.

"Hoo boy, Hiashi's going to have my ass for this."

--

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! You're the best, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata just blushed.

The two of them were seated on a bench in the nearby park, Naruto wolfing down Hinata's lunch as she slowly picked apart his bento. The short boy was very curious about her family. The Byakugan-thingy was so cool!

"Oi, you're loud."

Naruto turned around. A voice just came out of the bush behind them. He tilted his head in confusion. Bushes didn't talk!

He then noticed the small spike of black hair behind the bush. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"What was that?!"

"What's the matter, dobe? Are you deaf, too? That would explain the loudness," the voice snidely answered.

"Dobe? In case you didn't notice, Uchiha, my jutsu smoked yours!" retorted Naruto.

"Are you stupid? Of course you are. My fireball would have destroyed all your clones!"

"They can _move_, dumbass! And I'm not the one hiding behind a freaking bush, am I?"

"Dobe!"

"Teme!"

Just as it was about to heat up some more, Hinata softly intervened.

"N-Naruto-kun…it's almost time to head back…" she informed them.

"Oh, it is! You better thank Hinata-chan, Sasuke-teme, because she just saved your butt!"

Whatever insult was on the tip of Sasuke's mouth went unheard. Naruto chose the moment he opened his mouth to grab Hinata's hand and sprint back to the Academy.

"Come on, Hinata-chan! We don't want to be late!"

She didn't register that, though.

All she knew at the moment was that Naruto was holding her hand.

--

Minato laughed. "Sounds like you had an eventful day, son."

"Yeah, it was fun!"

Kushina cleared her throat.

"No ramen for a week," she declared.

"_What?_" came the cries of protest from father and son.

"Who said you could give away your lunch? I spent a lot of time on that!"

While her son sputtered 'but, but, but…,' her husband also voiced his complaint.

"What did _I_ do?" he questioned. This was completely unfair! His sometimes-scary wife smirked back at him briefly before her mouth twitched into a slight frown.

"_You!_ _You're_ the one who got him addicted to it in the first place! I _told_ you, but you wouldn't listen! If you think about it, it's all _your_ fault!" she lectured, punctuating each 'you' with a poke to his chest.

Minato joined his young look-alike. "But, but, but…"

"No buts! This is final! Now, go do your homework, Naruto."

Naruto took some papers out of his bag. "I already know all of this, Dad!" He showed Minato the papers.

Glancing through, the Hokage scratched his head. "Wow, this is some _boring_ stuff – "

"Ahem."

"I mean, go do your homework, Naruto!"

* * *

Surprise appearance from our favourite Kage! No, not Gaara.

I really hated that lunch scene, it was really hard to write. I rethought and rewrote it a few times. The end part with Minato was a bit awkward too, but I feel it came out okay. Not great, but passable enough.

This was a quick update to show that I'm not dead, but school starts soon, and I'm not sure how I'll write this. This series is driven purely by inspiration, and we all know how fickle _that_ is. Hopefully I'll be able to pull off a few more. If not, I guess I can always call a two- or three-shot.

Drop a line, thanks! I appreciate it a lot - especially if you think you can help me improve my writing.


End file.
